| A look back at semi-finals in The Showgrounds |
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| Thursday, 26 October 2006 | |
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Leo Gray of the Sligo Champion recalls the drama and excitement of seven previous FAI Cup semi-finals played at Sligo Showgrounds.
Courtesy, The Sligo Champion Next Sunday’s eagerly-awaited showdown between Sligo Rovers and Derry City will be the eighth FAI Cup semi-final (including replays) staged at Sligo Showgrounds. The famous old Stadium, which has been transformed into one of the top soccer arenas in the country over the past number of years, has been the setting for some riveting Cup semi-finals, dating back to 1983 when the legendary confrontation between Rovers and Cobh Ramblers was fought to a thrilling conclusion before an entranced sell-out audience. Over the years, teams with proud Cup traditions came to the Showgrounds to face a date with destiny in the penultimate stage of a competition which has enthralled and infuriated generations of local soccer fans in equal measure. Traditional Cup giants, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne, are among the sides which have experienced the special atmosphere of semi-final days at the Showgrounds. They both survived with their Cup ambitions intact but less fortunate were gallant Cobh and Limerick. Four-game saga Of the seven semi-finals staged at the Showgrounds, Rovers have won two, drawn two and lost three. The first ever FAI Cup semi-final at the Showgrounds was on April 6th, 1983, when the second instalment of the famous four-game saga against Cobh Ramblers was staged at the Sligo venue. Cobh, then operating out of the Munster Senior League, had captured the imagination of the whole country with their heroic exploits in the Cup and their semi-final showdown with Rovers generated unprecedented interest. The semi-final was fixed for Flower Lodge and the game attracted a massive crowd, with thousands of Rovers success-starved fans making the long journey South, to swell the terraces along with Ramblers’ ever-expanding army of supporters. It looked as if one of the greatest shocks in the illustrious history of Ireland’s most coveted knock-out competitions might be on the cards when Cobh took a first half lead and held it right up to the dying minutes when Mick Graham bundled in a dramatic equaliser to keep Rovers Cup hopes alive. Having survived a demanding test in Cork, Rovers were expected to negotiate the replay at the Showgrounds three days later without too much fuss. And the game appeared to be going to script when goals by Harry McLoughlin and Mick Graham eased Sligo into a comfortable lead. Cup fighters Ramblers reputation as great Cup fighters was dramatically illustrated, however, as they battled back to earn a thrilling 2-2 draw. Extra time failed to separate the teams and it was back to Flower Lodge for a third game. A scoreless draw at the Cork venue meant that Ramblers and Rovers would have to do it all again in a fourth meeting back at the Showgrounds. If the first three games produced an abundance of incident and excitement, nobody could have anticipated the breathtaking drama which was about to unfold in the fourth instalment. A beautiful Spring afternoon, an electric atmosphere and tightly-packed terraces, crammed with thousands of fans from Sligo and Cobh, provided the perfect backdrop for a game which still, twenty-three years later, has the capacity to stir the emotions. In what turned out to be arguably one of the greatest games ever in the long history of the FAI Cup, Cobh roared into a two goal lead and Rovers fans could only hope and pray that a saga which had already stretched the boundaries of possibilities to breaking point would have even more twists and turns. And so it transpired. The unlikely Sligo hero was Chris Rutherford, a defender of uncompromising virtues, who had the delightful habit of revealing his attacking qualities when the need was most desperate. Six years previously, it was Rutherford who came to Rovers rescue in an ‘all or nothing’ showdown with Shamrock Rovers in the last match of the 1976/’77 season at the Showgrounds. Rovers had to beat their age-old rivals to clinch their first League Championship in forty years but were deadlocked at 1-1 and looked to be running out of inspiration. Then, with the game in the last quarter, Rutherford thundered in a smashing header from a corner-kick. Released from the fear of failure thanks to the intervention of ‘Big Chris’, Rovers went on to record a comfortable 3-1 victory. Saviour Turn the clock forward to 1983 and the big centre back is thrust into the role of saviour again. And how he responded. Not once but twice Rutherford extended every ounce of power and courage in his muscular frame to head glorious goals. Suddenly, what appeared to be a lost cause was reborn. 2-2. Four hundred and twenty minutes of gripping football and still these two great sets of warriors couldn’t be separated. The tension was almost unbearable as the combatants headed into thirty further minutes of extra time. Something different was needed to break the deadlock. Enter Gus Gilligan. A top scorer in his early years with Rovers, Gilligan missed most of the 1982/’83 season through injury but player-manager, Paul Fielding, was prepared to take a gamble on the striker’s fitness, pressing him into action in the extra-time period. Rarely has a substitution reaped such dividends. It was Gilligan’s predatory instincts which finally resolved one of the great Cup battles of all time as he escaped friend and foe at the far post to nod Harry McLoughlin’s precise cross low to the net. First time Cobh’s fairytale had come to an end but Rovers dream was about to be realised as they went on to win the Cup for the first time in the club’s history, defeating Bohemians 2-1 in a memorable final at Dalymount Park. Those sell-out games proved that the Showgrounds was well capable of hosting big matches and the venue had the honour of staging a Cup semi-final again four years later. For the 1986/’87 season, the FAI decided that the semi-finals would be staged on a home and away basis and a full-house was guaranteed at the Showgrounds when it emerged that Rovers opponents would be Shamrock Rovers, a club with whom they had a long and dramatic Cup history. The 1987 semi-final between the sides earned a special place in the history books in its own right as the first instalment on April 5th was the last ever game played at the famous Miltown ground in South Dublin before it was sold for a housing development. Fans of Sligo Rovers and Shamrock Rovers enjoy a keen rivalry but, on this occasion, they were united in a common cause as supporters from both clubs staged a sit-down protest at half-time during the Miltown fixture to display their opposition to the sale of the ground. Acceptable result The match wasn’t a classic but it produced an acceptable result for Sligo as a Tony O’Kelly goal earned them a 1-1 draw, thereby setting things up very nicely for the second leg at the Showgrounds on April 12th. Under the management of the late Gerry Mitchell, Sligo gave it all they had but the nearest they came to breaking the deadlock was when a late header from John Burke crashed against the crossbar. And so a third tie was needed to decide who would go through to the final. The game was staged at the Showgrounds on April 15th, and this time the Dubliners, who were the top team in the country at the time, edged through with a 1-0 win. The next semi-final at the Showgrounds was on April 6th, 1994. By that stage of the season, Willie McStay’s magnificent young team had already won the National Shield and the first division championship and were hoping to stay on course for a unique treble when they took on Limerick in the semi-final. Although Limerick were in the top grade at the time and Rovers had spent the season in the first division, the North West team were favourites to go through to the final. Momentum The momentum was with them after a storming finish to the League campaign and Limerick were going through some hard times. The game was a typical semi-final, with no quarter asked or given and very little in the way of high octane entertainment. But Rovers always looked the more likely side to create a match-winning move and the ‘golden goal’ which sent them on their way to the final was finally delivered by ace goal poacher, Eddie Annand. One of the most exciting seasons in the club’s history was rounded off in magnificent style when Rovers beat Derry City 1-0 in the final to claim the famous trophy for the second time. The matchwinner in the final was Ger Carr, later to serve as assistant manager at the Showgrounds. The 1994 semi-final was the first of a three-in-a-row semi-final run at the Showgrounds. The following year, with current Northern Ireland manager, Lawrie Sanchez, in charge, Rovers battled their way to the semi-final, only to lose 3-1 to highly-talented Shelbourne outfit. Turning point The turning point in an incident-packed match came when Rovers ‘keeper, Mark McLean, was sent off in the first half. It meant that Sanchez had to sacrifice striker, Eddie Annand, for substitute ‘keeper, Nicky Broujos. A goal by Ger Carr gave Rovers some hope of a sensational comeback in the second half but Shels refused to panic and ran out comfortable winners in the end. In 1995, Rovers reached the semi-final again, this time under the management of Steve Cotterrill, who is now doing very well as manager of Burnley in the English Championship. The Showgrounds was once more the venue and Shels provided the opposition for the second year in a row. There was very little between the sides but one piece of magic by Tony Sheridan settled the game in the Dublin club’s favour. |
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